Device for displaying changeable inscriptions on interchangeable roll screens

ABSTRACT

One of two rolls for rolling and unrolling a roll screen bearing inscriptions in a route or destination indicator of a vehicle is provided with a detachable mounting device for easy interchanging of that roller together with the screen with another roller supporting another screen with different inscriptions. Thus, screens can be readily and rapidly interchanged in the manner of roll films in a 35 mm. camera.

United States Patent Inventors IshiI-Iabuka;

Kazuko Ilabuka; Takashi Ilabuka, all of 23-8, 3-Chome, Sengoku, Bunkyo-ku,

Tokyo-to, Japan Appl. No. 865,151 Filed Oct. 9, 1969 Patented Jan. 4, 1972 DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING CHANGEABLE INSCRIPTIONS ON INTERCHANGEABLE ROLL SCREENS 4 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl. 40/86 R, 40/31, 242/673, 242/684 [51] 1nt.Cl G091 11/24 [50] Field of Search 40/86, 31, 47; 242/673, 68, 68.4

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 601,161 3/1898 Pain 242/684 Larson Freborg l-Iuffaker....

Alexeff Drexler Rogers McQuistion Gal'fney etal.

Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-L. R. Oremland Attorney-Holman, Glascock, Downing & Seebold ABSTRACT: One of two rolls for rolling and unrolling a roll screen bearing inscriptions in a route or destination indicator of a vehicle is provided with a detachable mounting device for easy interchanging of that roller together with the screen with another roller supporting another screen with difi'erent inscriptions. Thus, screens can be readily and rapidly interchanged in the manner of roll films in a 35 mm. camera.

PATENTED JAN 4 I 72 SHEET 2 OF 2 FIG. 3

INVENTORS In; Hoeukn 5 /91.

Jina n:

DEVICE FOR DISPLAYING CHANGEABLE INSCRII'IIONS ON INTERCIIANGEABLE ROLL SCREENS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to devices for displaying changeable inscriptions and other markings and more particularly to a new device of this character for displaying inscriptions on a rollup curtain or screen which is rollable and unrollable between a screen installation roller and a screen windup roller which is readily interchangeable with another like roller bearing therearound a screen with different inscriptions.

Heretofore, in a route or destination indicator such as that used on a bus, for example, an inscription screen is rolled up and assembled therein at the time the route indicator is mounted in place on the bus. For this reason, the routes over which the bus can be operated with proper route indication are limited to those inscribed on that single screen.

The work of removing such an inscription screen and installing another screen has entailed an extremely complicated and tedious procedure in known route indicators, and it has been almost impossible to accomplish rapid interchanging of roll screens. Accordingly, it has been the practice, out of necessity, to install in each indicator a roll screen of great length sufficient for a large number of routes, which practice is uneconomical.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above-described difficulty by providing a device for displaying changeable inscriptions on a roll screen which, in wound state on a windup roller, can be easily interchanged together with the roller with another screen bearing different inscriptions and thereby to increase the information-displaying efficiency and capacity of the device as well as the versatility thereof.

According to the present invention, briefly summarized, there is provided a device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens of the character referred to above in which the interchangeable screen windup roller and a screen installation roller are rotatably supported in parallel and spaced-apart relation in a frame, and the windup roller with a roll screen wound therearound is detachably installed in the frame by detachable mounting means for interchanging with another like roller with a different screen wound therearound.

The nature, details, and utility of the invention will be more clearly apparent from the following detailed description with respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a rear elevation, foreshortened by cutting out the 7 middle part, showing an example of a route indicator accordingly to the invention, without the roll screen;

FIG. 2 is a disassembled view, with parts shown in section, showing an essential part of the route indicator; and

FIG. 3 is right side elevation, with parts cut away, of the route indicator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawing, the route indicator illustrated therein has a stationary frame structure comprising vertical left and right side members I and la each having an L-shaped angle cross section and upper and lower horizontal shaft members 2, 2 and 2a, 2a interconnecting the side members to form a rigid rectangular frame structure.

At the lower part of this frame structure and between the side frames 1 and la there is rotatably supported a screen installation and tension roller 3 having a central shaft, one end of which projects through and outside of one flange of the side member Ia and supports a gear 6 fixed thereto. This gear 6 is meshed with a driving gear 5 of a spring motor 4 containing a built-in centrifugal brake.

At the upper inside part of the other side member I, there is rotatably supported a windup shaft 7 having a central polygonal hole 7a (a square hole in the example illustrated) and projecting laterally toward the right side member 1a. In axial alignment with this shaft 7, an engagement center pin 8 having a conical tip for self-centering is fixed to the side member Ia and projects inward toward the shaft 7.

An interchangeable screen windup roller 9, which is fitted and supported between the shaft 7 and pin 8, has at one end thereof a square shaft 10 fitted into the square hole 7a of the windup shaft 7 and at the other end a bearing cylinder 11 receiving within its hollow interior the engagement pin 8. The bearing cylinder 11 is supported by the end of the roller 9 in a manner permitting sliding motion thereof in the axial direction and is continually urged outward toward the side member la by a compression coil spring 12 fitted around the outwardly projecting part of the cylinder 11. The spring 12 is disposed between the roller 9 and an annular flange formed thereon.

This bearing cylinder is provided at diametrically opposite sides of its wall with longitudinal slots 1 la, through which is passed a pin 13 secured to the roller 9 in the diametrical direction thereof and thereby functioning to limit the stroke of the bearing shaft 11 in the axially outward direction.

The windup shaft 7 and, therefore, the windup roller 9 can be driven manually in rotation by a mechanism including a handle crank 14. The aforementioned screen tension roller 3 is provided thereabout with leaf springs l5, 15 for fixing one end of a screen (not shown), this end being the free end of a screen wound about a windup roller 9.

The route indicator of the above described organization according to the invention is loaded a screen on a windup roller 9 and operated in the following manner. First, square shaft l0 at one end of the windup roller 9 around which the described roll screen has been wound beforehand is fitted into square hole 7a of windup shaft 7. Then bearing cylinder 11 is pressed toward the interior of windup roller 9 (leftward as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2), overcoming the force of spring 12 and, as it is held in this retracted state, is axially aligned with engagement pin 8 and released, whereupon bearing cylinder slides outward to fit onto engagement pin 8.

After windup roller 9 has been installed in position between side members 1 and la in the above-described manner, the free end of the roll screen (not shown) wound thereon is secured to screen installation roller 3 by means of leaf springs l5, 15.

When a windup roller 9 in installed state is to be removed from its installed position between side members I and 1a, the above-described procedure for installation is reversed. That is, the roll screen end is disengaged from leaf springs 15, and, after the screen has been wound up on roller 9, bearing cylinder 11 is pushed inward relative to roller 9 and thereby disengaged from engagement pin 8. Square shaft 10 on the opposite end of roller 9 is then extracted from square hole 7a of windup shaft 7, whereupon windup shaft 7, whereupon windup roller 9 can be removed from side members 1 and la.

Thus, the present invention provides a roll screen display device from which a roll screen can be removed together with a windup roller by a simple procedure, and another roll screen can be installed together with its windup roller within the device in an equally simple manner.

Accordingly, when the display device of the invention is installed in a public conveyance such as a bus, for example, the single bus can be used over a large number routes with proper indication thereof, whereby the efficiency of operation of a fleet of such vehicles is substantially increased.

At the same time, since it becomes no longer necessary to install in all vehicles a long roll screen bearing inscriptions indicating a large number of routes or destinations, great economy is afforded. A further feature of the display device of the invention is its simple construction.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, while the engagement center pin 8 is fixed while the bearing cylinder 11 is axially slidable in the above described example, it will be apparent that the arrangement wherein the bearing cylinder or an equivalent part is fixed to the windup roller 9, and the engagement center pin is axially slidable relative to the side member la is also feasible.

As another example, an arrangement wherein a bearing cylinder is supported in an axially slidable manner on the side member 1a, while a pin to engage therewith is fixed to the end of the windup roller 9 is also possible.

Furthermore, while the present invention has been described principally with respect to its application to a public bus, it will be apparent that the invention is not so limited but can be applied to a wide variety of inscription-displaying devices including such devices for other conveyances such as streetcars, ferryboats, and aircraft and for stationary installations such as indicators of arrival and departure information in railway stations, bus terminals, and airport buildings.

We claim:

1. In a device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens comprising a frame, a screen installation roller rotatably supported by said frame, an interchangeable screen windup roller rotatably supported by the frame and parallely spaced apart from said screen installation roller, driving means having a driving shaft for rotating said screen windup roller, a roll screen wound at one end thereof around the windup roller, and at the other end around screen installation roller, keyed-type connection means for detachable connecting one axial end of said windup roller to said driving shaft,

and axially spring-biased support means for rotatably and detachably supporting the other axial end of said windup roller on said frame, the improvement wherein said keyedtype connection means comprises a shaft end of noncircular cross section fixed to and projecting axially outward from said one end of the screen windup roller, and means for forming an axial recess in said driving shaft coaxially with said shaft end for snugly receiving the shaft end thereby to support and drive the same, and wherein said spring-biased support means comprises a hollow bearing cylinder coaxially fitted in an axial recess in said other end of the screen windup roller in a nonrotatable manner relative to the roller and being slidable axially relative to the screen windup roller within a limited range, a spring for resiliently urging said bearing cylinder axially outward relative to the screen windup roller, and a center pin fixed to the frame in a position and alignment coaxial with and toward the driving shaft and adapted to slidably engage the hollow interior wall of said bearing cylinder thereby to support rotatably said bearing cylinder and, therefore, said other end of the screen windup roller.

2. The device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens as defined in claim 1, wherein said hollow bearing cylinder includes radially aligned axial slots and is held in said axial recess by means of a radial pin passing through said slots and the body of the screen windup roller.

3. The device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens as defined in claim 1, wherein said hollow bearing cylinder has an annular flange on the outer end thereof and said spring is disposed between said flange and said screen windup roller.

4. The device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens as defined in claim 1, wherein said center pin has a conical tip for self-centering.

t 1: x a: 

1. In a device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens comprising a frame, a screen installation roller rotatably supported by said frame, an interchangeable screen windup roller rotatably supported by the frame and parallely spaced apart from said screen installation roller, driving means having a driving shaft for rotating said screen windup roller, a roll screen wound at one end thereof around the windup roller, and at the other end around screen installation roller, keyedtype connection means for detachable connecting one axial end of said windup roller to said driving shaft, and axially springbiased support means for rotatably and detachably supporting the other axial end of said windup roller on said frame, the improvement wherein said keyed-type connection means comprises a shaft end of noncircular cross section fixed to and projecting axially outward from said one end of the screen windup roller, and means for forming an axial recess in said driving shaft coaxially with said shaft end for snugly receiving the shaft end thereby to support and drive the same, and wherein said springbiased support means comprises a hollow bearing cylinder coaxially fitted in an axial recess in said other end of the screen windup roller in a nonrotatable manner relative to the roller and being slidable axially relative to the screen windup roller within a limited range, a spring for resiliently urging said bearing cylinder axially outward relative to the screen windup roller, and a center pin fixed to the frame in a position and alignment coaxial with and toward the driving shaft and adapted to slidably engage the hollow interior wall of said bearing cylinder thereby to support rotatably said bearing cylinder and, therefore, said other end of the screen windup roller.
 2. The device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens as defined in claim 1, wherein said hollow bearing cylinder includes radially aligned axial slots and is held in said axial recess by means of a radial pin passing through said slots and the body of the screen windup roller.
 3. The device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens as defined in claim 1, wherein said hollow bearing cylinder has an annular flange on the outer end thereof and said spring is disposed between said flange and said screen windup roller.
 4. The device for displaying changeable inscriptions on roll screens as defined in claim 1, wherein said center pin has a conical tip for self-centering. 